I am publishing version 1.3 here. In this post I will detail the changes I have made so far.
In post #36 above, I detailed several changes I am considering making. Some have been made in the “Changes & reasons” section below. Others are still under consideration in the “Balance thoughts” section below.
Print-and-Play
I am making a full print-and-play set of tomorrow of v1.3. I used Microsoft Excel and made the card very similar in formatting and appearance to the original Codex cards. I will not publish my PnP set, since I pirated all the art for personal use. I bought extra Codex books from the Sirlin website to put my brown set in (using the Black binder since it is closest in appearance to Brown, also that got me an extra blue Codex, and my physical binders have been used so much that they are all falling apart.) PM me interested in a look.
Initial Feedback (short)
So the most common feedback thus far is that the starter deck is a little bit too weak. In combination with the heroes, it does not pose enough aggressive threats, nor have strong defensive power. I intentionally tried to not go over-the-top on the power-level of the first draft. However, due to this feedback, I have made several small changes to the starter deck that should help Brown to be a little more stable early game and have more threats the opponent must play around.
An additional comment was that the Evolution Tech 1’s were a bit too slow to bring about real value. As such, those cards have been modified slightly. I really like the idea of Evolution’s Tech 1’s both being upgrades that synergize with the hero (Abathur’s) top-band ability.
Changes & Reasons (long)
The new PDF at the bottom of this post has a column on the right that notes the changes from the previous version. Additionally, from a formatting perspective, I added horizontal lines, so that the cards taking up more than 1 line are not confused with the cards above or below them. I will go through them each, individually here, top-to-bottom.
Creep Tumor - For thematic reasons, this has been changed to a 1 HP, invisible building. Also, due to recent suggestion, rather than giving Haste to all Zurklings, it now gives “Deals damage to a patroller: Sideline that patroller.” In my mind, this is a slight nerf. Previously, the aggressive threat from Brown in the early game was being able to spawn a lot of hasted 1/1 Zurklings. Now that they are less hastey, that opens up room for adding a little more aggressive potential to the rest of the early game cards. (Don’t worry, I did not go over-the-top on the buffs.)
Rapid Expansion - Previously, this was a 3 cost building that tried to represent an economic expansion. I wanted it to have a similar effect to Rich Earth, but do so in a different way. Due to changing Creep Tumor into a building, I did not want to have 2 buildings in the starter deck, so this has been converted into a spell. This card WILL need testing, and if it is found to be WAY too powerful (winning >60% of games where it is used in turns 1-2, it could be nerfed by increasing the cost to 3. However, since this card requires having a Queen or hero in play, and in multi-color play it may already have a +1 cost tax applied, I think it bears testing it out at the 2 cost slot.
Heroic Calling - I have removed the previous card “Inject Larva” from the starter deck. Inject Larva represented investing early game into a later-turn’s explosion. In Codex mechanics, this meant a 1 cost ongoing spell that was not attached or channeling (quasi-upgrade, with requirement for a Queen or hero to cast.) This card is a functional reprint of Rampant Growth, and gives the Brown starter deck the potential for a more aggressive early game.
Zurkling Rush - Due to Zurklings no longer getting haste from Creep Tumors, I think they are a little bit weaker now in the early game. Previously, this card summoned two 1/1’s for 3 gold, equivalent to Summon Skeletons. However, the base Zurkling token (and unit) has the drawback (without a Creep Tumor) of not gaining patrol bonuses. Due to that change, I feel comfortable increasing the number of tokens summoned to three, for testing. I realize that this is slightly stronger than the previous version, but the previous version of the starter deck was a little lacking, so I feel like the 4 changes above, in combination, all slightly increase the overall early game options for Brown.
Adrenaline Boost - This was previously just a copy of “Rampant Growth”, which has now been working into the starter deck. The new card is intended to be a flexible buff that can fill both the offensive and defensive roles.
Evolve Baneling - The cost of this upgrade was dropped from 1 to 0, and the upgrade was given haste. It still costs 1 gold to activate, and has to exhaust to activate (limits it to once-per-turn), but it allows Brown to get out slightly earlier Banelings. Banelings are not immediate threats, in that they are 3/1’s, without haste. They still require sacrificing a Zurkling as part of the cost as well (representing the thematic evolution of a Zurkling into a Baneling.)
Evolve Ravager - Several Codices represent having a 3/4 creature and those often with extra abilities to boot. So the nature of the Evolution Tech 1 being an upgrade that requires a turn to activate and then a creature to sacrifice was a little too slow to be valuable. In this current iteration, I have added +1 HP to the Ravagers, to make them a 3/5 unit, which is still slow to get out. That makes them a pretty big body on the board, with in-spec synergy with Abathur, but still a little slow. If they prove too weak as-is, I would toy with making them a 3/3 long-range, or giving the upgrade itself haste.
Sequence Morphology - This card felt a little too weak in its previous version, so instead of just giving +1 armor to all units and heroes, I changed it to a Tech 2 upgrade that gives +1 ATK, +1HP, and +1 armor, which feels appropriate for Evolution, but may need balancing in some sense.
Dehaka - His initial version was a 2/4 at level 1 and has been dropped to a 2/3 with “Attacks: Gain 1 armor this turn.” This makes him slightly weaker early game, but slightly stronger late game once his mid and max band abilities come online and has additional synergy with his spell Adapt Mutation, to make him an aggressive threat. Overall, I like this change, as it gives him a more unique feel.
Evolve Husk - This Tech 2 Primal upgrade was tweaked slightly to now give -1 ATK to all heroes and units that attack a building you control. The prior version only affected units. It is still a low-cost upgrade with a marginal defensive effect, in an otherwise aggressive spec. Overall, I feel like this is still adequately balanced and provides a more unique and potentially usable option.
Swarm Attack - Due to Zurklings no longer getting haste from Creep Tumors out of the starting deck, this card needed a slight rework. I tossed around several ideas. Previously it summoned four 1/1’s for 5 gold, which would likely have haste. Now it summons only three 1/1’s for 5 gold, but also gives all of your Zurklings haste. On its own, this card is weaker than it was before. Even in combination with the new Creep Tumor, I think this card is weaker than the old Swarm Attack was with the old Creep Tumor. That said, this is now a niche card with some potentially power synergy / combo power with a high level Abathur, Zagara, or Tech 3 Evolution Broodmother. This card may be a little weak in its current form, but I would consider it worthy of testing as it.
Infestor - This card, as a Tech 2 Swarm unit, is Brown’s only response to opponent Upgrades or Buildings (Might of Leaf and Claw, Jail, Censorship Council, Flagstone Garison, Morningstar Pass, etc.) As such, in its previous iteration, it was a bit lacking as a counter-play option. So in the revised version, it now has stealth, which means your opponent has to play around this counter-play. I do not think it makes this card too strong, but it does add a bit more balance to the overall Brown strategy options.
Nydus Worm - As a clarification, I added that this unit cannot attack. This Tech 3 card for the Swarm spec is a pinch weak, at the moment. It is a 0/8 creature that is untargetable, but can’t attack, for 5 gold. However, it gives all Brown units unstoppable when attacking buildings. The design intent here is to represent an end-game, all-in attack option. Thematically, if this card is a bit too weak, I see two options: either reduce its cost, or add the flavor ability “Whenever you damage an opposing base: Trash a worker at that base.” Either option could increase the late game effect of this card. I think it is good enough to test, as is, but probably is a lower-tier Tech 3, without either of the above changes.
Balance Thoughts (future ideas / feedback welcomed)
First thing’s first… the starter deck needed a slight boost in power before addressing the overall Tech 1’s, 2’s and 3’s.
However, I also made a few critical changes to some of the non-starter deck cards. Most of these I feel are not substantial changes, but will help Brown to better fit into the overall meta.
Cards that may likely need future reworks:
- Corruptor - a bit weak for a Tech 2 flier
- Changeling - may better fit as a 1 cost 2/2 than 2 cost 2/3.
- Hydralisk - a bit weaker than the other 2 cost 3/3 anti-air units.
- Mutalisk - too powerful, or perfect as is?
- Ultralisk - is he “ultra” enough?
- Swarm Attack - how does this fit with the changes to creep tumor?
- Swarm Host - should this creature be weaker and summon more tokens?
- Broodlord - should this creature be weaker and summon locusts, like the Swarm Host??? (fits the Swarm Spec theme)
- Nydus Worm - see the thoughts in the section above
Faction PDF: Zurk Collective, version 1.31
Other notes:
- I have played well over 100 games, probably somewhere around 200, in the past 6 months with my girlfriend (VERY casual games… we each random a spec from our codex, and play with a random map card).
- I also have 2 nerdy board-game bro’s I play with occasionally (at a more competitive level.)
- Today, we all did a proof-read of my PnP mock-up and they gave me some initial thoughts on balance.
- However, tomorrow I will proxy up this set as linked above and start playing out some games.
Please:
I happily welcome and humbly request any balance feedback, especially from the more-experienced competitive player here (you know who you are, <3).
I am just trying to come up with a fun, but thematic new Faction to add in for more diversity, with my physical deluxe copy.
Given how David Sirlin incorporated the Protoss feel from Starcraft into the Purple Codex, I felt like there was a gap, for a Xenomorphic Codex representing the Zerg.
Thanks!!!